Graham, McCain bite back at Paul over 'lapdog' diss

Paul, the 2016 GOP presidential contender who’s tussled with Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain over foreign policy, took aim at the hawkish duo this week by charging that they are “lapdogs” for President Barack Obama’s policies abroad.

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On Wednesday, Graham — considering a 2016 bid of his own — dismissed the Kentucky Republican’s criticism and said Paul would have the “worst chance of anybody to make a case against Obama’s foreign policy.”

“At the end of the day, his record, in my view, shows a foreign policy vision one step behind leading from behind,” Graham said during a briefing with reporters on Capitol Hill. “And all I can say is that if he’s the nominee, I will support him. But if he’s the nominee of the party, we risk giving up the central issue of the 2016 campaign, which will be foreign policy.”

Graham added: “I think Sen. Paul’s record on this issue is quite frankly behind that of President Obama.”

Meanwhile, McCain said an anonymous Obama administration official has compared him and Graham to Doberman Pinschers — rather than lapdogs.

“I’ll let people be the judge as to whether there’s anyone, particularly in this administration, that thinks that Lindsey Graham and I are lapdogs,” McCain said when asked about Paul’s comment, barely able to contain his laughter.